Prosecutor Accuses Former SNP Leader of Lying as Sexual Offences Trial Concludes
In a dramatic conclusion to the trial of former SNP council chief Jordan Linden, a prosecutor has directly told the jury that the accused 'told lies' while giving evidence, and that his twelve accusers were all victims of sexual offences. Procurator Fiscal Depute Alistair McDermid delivered his powerful closing submissions at Falkirk Sheriff Court, where Linden, aged 30, faces a total of fifteen charges against multiple men over an eleven-year period.
Prosecution's Closing Argument
Addressing the jury of eight women and seven men, Mr McDermid urged them to 'imagine how unlucky you’d have to be to be accused by twelve young men', all of whom were younger than Linden and had met him through either the Scottish Youth Parliament or the SNP’s youth wing, Young Scots for Independence. The prosecutor stated emphatically that the sheer number of allegations presented a compelling pattern.
'It defies belief that so many young men come and tell you stories that explain such an obvious repeat pattern, unless the simple conclusion is that those allegations are true,' Mr McDermid asserted. 'I suggest that is the only plausible explanation for the substantial body of evidence you have heard against Jordan James Linden.'
Mr McDermid made it clear that he was asking the jury not only to find Linden guilty on all fifteen charges—which range from stalking to sexual assault—but also 'to find that Jordan James Linden stood in the witness box, faced you and told you lies.' He emphasised that the trial was strictly a criminal matter, not a political one.
'This is a criminal trial, not a political [one]. I’m not asking for your verdict on the Scottish Youth Parliament, I’m not asking for your verdict on the Scottish National Party or the independence movement, or anything else…That’s not what this is about. This is about Jordan James Linden and the twelve young men who I suggest have been victims of sexual offences at his hands,' the fiscal declared.
Application of the Moorov Doctrine
The prosecutor highlighted that for most of the fifteen charges against Linden, there was only a single witness. He asked the jury to apply the principle of mutual corroboration, known as the Moorov doctrine, to these charges. This legal doctrine allows separate offences to be corroborated by each other if they exhibit similar characteristics.
'You compare all of the accounts of the various witnesses and look for links, similarities, threads in time, character or circumstance which show you the crimes are part of a single course of criminal conduct, systematically pursued by the accused,' Mr McDermid explained. 'That is how I ask you to approach this case… to look carefully at what I suggest is a series of threads that run through the offences…linking them all together as one single course of conduct.'
Mr McDermid outlined four key elements that he argued 'readily bring all of the offenses together':
- Firstly, all of the complainants are male.
- Secondly, the accused met each and every one of them in the context of a political organisation.
- Thirdly, each and every one of them is younger than Linden.
- Fourthly, all of them describe behaviour which is either very sexual or very sexually motivated.
Defence's Counter-Arguments
In his closing speech, defence counsel David Moggach KC presented a starkly different narrative. He suggested that the complainers' memories had become 'distorted or subconsciously changed' over time. Mr Moggach insisted that images Linden had sent to some of the witnesses from a bath were 'not sexual' in nature.
The KC argued that the 'discomfort' experienced by alleged victims due to his client’s sending of semi-nude images did not constitute the 'fear and alarm' necessary to secure a conviction for the crimes charged. 'Having a bath is not engaging in sexual activity,' Mr Moggach stated firmly.
The defence lawyer proposed that as several of the young men involved in the case knew each other from the Scottish Youth Parliament, they had adopted a 'group approach' towards Linden and had 'put a criminal shine' on his behaviour when there was no criminal behaviour at all. He noted that some of the alleged complainers had been 'approached by the media' and there was 'ample scope' for them to communicate with one another.
Concluding his one-hour-and-ten-minute speech, Mr Moggach told the jury: 'It’s not a numbers game. Twelve wrongs don’t come to a right. He behaved in a way he’s not proud of. It was when he was young, naïve, silly and stupid. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say you will make the most important decision in Mr Linden’s life. The verdict I ask you to return is not guilty on all charges.'
Jury Deliberations Imminent
The jury is expected to begin their deliberations tomorrow in this high-profile case, which is being heard before Sheriff Christopher Shead. The outcome will determine the future of Jordan Linden, once a prominent figure in Scottish politics, as he awaits the verdict on these serious allegations.
